


Max Headroom/Dark Angel: the Ascent - Purity

by ElegantButler



Category: Dark Angel: The Ascent, Max Headroom - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Medical Science, demoness - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-22
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-06-14 11:36:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15387936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElegantButler/pseuds/ElegantButler
Summary: When Dr. Max Barris and his mate Veronica Iscariot go to England for a medical convention, their dog Hellraiser almost runs over Edison Carter, resulting in a meeting which reveals information about a drug that could kill or cure.





	1. Max Meets Max

Max Headroom/Dark Angel: The Ascent  
Purity

 

Chapter One: Max Meets Max

 

Dr. Max Barris stepped off the New York to London flight followed by his mate Veronica Iscariot-Barris. The story of her arrival in New York and their subsequent romance had started rather unexpectedly when he had been looking at the stars from his New York alley fire escape. He had glanced down, for just a moment.

There she had been. Pretty, and wearing only a trench coat and a pair of boots. She looked up at him, curiosity in her eyes. And then it had happened. A car suddenly turned and honking at her, preceded to strike her. The driver backed up and left the alley.

Max didn’t bother looking for whoever had hit the young woman. Instead he had summoned an ambulance which he followed to All Saints Hospital where he worked.

From there, she had someone managed to convince him to let her move into his apartment. He was never really sure how. But now that no longer mattered. She was his mate and that was that.

Veronica followed her mate off the plane. Shortly after the other passengers had deplaned, a deceased man in his late thirties was carried off the plane accompanied by a woman who was slightly younger than him with multiple bruises on her face that looked fairly new.

Max would have to speak to Veronica about that. He was sure she was the cause of the otherwise healthy man’s sudden and inexplicable heart attack. Subtle. And at least he wouldn’t be lunch. Though given Veronica’s skills with exotic meat Max was certain it would have been a great improvement over the food the airline had served them.

“Welcome-come-come! Welcome to London!” a familiar voice rang out over the airport television sets. “Home of the world famous Edison Carter-ter, Network 23, and the best Zik Zak burger shops in all of Eng-Eng-England.”

Max Headroom. The world-famous computer-generated talking head who had won his way into the hearts of viewers with his charm and wit. 

Veronica eyed Max quizzically, tilting her head like a confused dog. 

And speaking of dogs…

A great deal of barking, as well as a large commotion, could be heard from the pet retrieval section of the airport as a large german shepherd, or rather what looked like one, came bounding through the airport, barking left and right, but otherwise doing no real harm.

“Hellraiser!” Veronica called as the dog almost knocked over Edison Carter, who was at the airport waiting for a celebrity to arrive. 

Edison watched the dog, following it with his vidicam as it slowed but continued moving toward the woman with the fiery red hair.

The other passengers also stared. Surely a mere woman couldn’t handle so ferocious a dog!

The dog, whom the passengers had decided was appropriately named, trotted over and sat obediently at her feet. Veronica crouched down and gave Hellraiser a hug around the neck and petted him before standing back up.

“Separation anxiety,” Dr. Barris explained. “Kind of like what I’m having with a bit of my luggage.”

“Which part?” Veronica asked.

“My medical supply bag. It seems to have gone on a separate vacation. And I can’t just replace it. All my medical supplies were in there. My first aid equipment, my stethoscope, and my sphygmomanometer were all in there. I need them for the medical convention.” 

“Were there any potions or remedies in that luggage?”

“Potions or..” Max thought for a moment. “Oh, you mean drugs? Nothing of street value. At least not in New York”

“Come on,” Veronica said as she strolled up to one of the security guards.

“My man’s bag is missing,” she said, very firmly, to the guard. She noticed that the reporter, Edison Carter if she remembered correctly, had followed them. No doubt curious about the mention of drugs. She would have to deal with him later.

Max Barris prayed that she would not find some sin to punish him for. It would not do for a security guard to have an unexpected medical problem or, as happened more frequently these days, to suddenly go running off for a monastery, or a convent in the case Veronica’s female prey.

The guard pointed in the general direction of the left luggage office.

“Bless you,” Veronica said. Max could never get used to the idea of a demoness going around blessing people. And a demoness was exactly what Veronica was. Not just exactly, but literally. 

As he, Veronica and Hellraiser headed for the lost luggage office, Max turned to her.

“You had me worried,” he admitted as they reached their destination. “I’ll handle this one.”

Veronica, not wishing to commit the sin of disrespecting her mate, stood to the side as he stepped up to the clerk and handed her the luggage tag.

“We found contraband in those bags,” the female clerk told Dr. Barris.

Veronica surged forward, angrily.

“How DARE you speak such falsehoods against my man!” she demanded.

Dr. Barris wished he could disappear into the floor. He wasn’t embarrassed. Just very very nervous.

“Don’t you know that it’s wrong to bear false witness?!” the demoness warned, her eyes turning a deep red as the clerk began to tremble.

“Please,” the clerk begged as she cowered back. Part of her wanted to know what kind of contact lenses this woman had and how she could get a pair for her next fancy dress party. “All I meant was that some of the medications in the bag are not permitted here in England.”

Veronica calmed. “My man needs the bag and his medical supplies for the convention he is attending. Is there any way the bag can be retrieved and the medications that aren’t permitted set aside?”

“We can work something out with the airlines.” the clerk promised.

“Well that seemed a bit extreme,” Edison said into his vidicam. He walked over to Dr. Barris and Veronica. “Edison Carter, Network 23” he extended a hand, praying it would not get bitten off. Though he wasn’t sure if he was more worried about it being bitten off by the dog or the owner.

“Veronica Iscariot-Barris,” Veronica told him. “Not interested.”

Edison raised an eyebrow.

“So, what happened here?” Edison asked. 

Max Barris stepped in. 

“There was a misunderstanding about some medication I was supposed to be presenting at the medical convention,” he explained. Then he extended his hand. “Dr. Max Barris. New York.”

“What medication?” Edison asked.

“Synthesine,” Dr. Barris explained.

“Odd,” Edison remarked. “They just started talking about human trials. Then it suddenly vanished from all the journals. I have the feeling you won’t be seeing your supplies anytime soon.”

Veronica turned to the clerk.

“Just forget it,” Max Barris told her.

“You’re lucky my man has reminded me about the value of forgiveness,” Veronica told the clerk. She turned back to Max Barris and Edison Carter. “I’m sorry. But it upsets me terribly when my Max is lied to or betrayed.”

“I feel the same about my Max,” Edison told her, smiling at his little joke.

“I can understand why. Our two Maxes seem to be the only people left in this world who are truly without deliberate sin.”

“I can think of someone else,” Edison muttered.


	2. Regarding Synesthine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At Network 23, Edison and his team discuss the unexpected meeting between Edison and the Barrises. Their primary concern lies in the mention of a new drug that could have very positive or very negative effects.

Chapter Two: Regarding Synthestine

“Cheviot’s furious,” Murray told Edison as the reporter walked into Control. “Why the hell did you abandon your assignment?”

“That couple with the dog seemed more important,” Edison explained. “Apparently they’re attending a medical convention that, amongst other things, will be covering the uses of Synthestine.”

“So they’re talking about drugs,” Murray said in exasperation as he followed Edison to Theora’s desk.. “All medical conventions do that.”

“Murray,” Theora explained, “Synthestine has been in limbo for almost a year. There are all kinds of speculations as to why. If one of the panels at this medical convention is to explain why, it might mean that the drug will finally be on the market.”

“Why is it so important?” Murray asked.

Theora tapped the keys on her Control screen and Bryce Lynch appeared on it.

“Bryce,” Theora requested. “Could you explain the importance of Synthestine to Murray?”

“Oh, god…” Murray groaned, facepalming even as Bryce nodded.

“Of course,” Bryce said, cheerfully ignoring Murray’s look of annoyance. He brought up a simple line-cartoon video of what looked a tiny bug walking along a molecular chain.

“Synthestine is a medication taken in capsule form,” Bryce explained. “It contains a combination of nanites and antimicrobials, the latter of which are used to stop the growth of unwanted microbes. Synthestine is what the old traveling doctors, who of course weren’t really doctors, would call a magic bullet. Strange thing, naming a cure after something that kills.”

“Get on with it,” Murray said. The one thing he found more annoying that Bryce’s explanations of things was when Bryce went off on a tangent, as geniuses are wont to do.

“What would happen if someone took it without needing it?” Edison asked.

“Theoretically, nothing,” Bryce explained. “The antimicrobials are delivered by the nanites, which won’t release them if they don’t think it’s necessary.”

“So, why won’t the manufacturers release it?” Murray asked.

“To quote a movie I saw when I was seven,” Bryce replied, “treating a disease is more profitable than curing it.”

“You’re telling me that Synthestine could cure diseases? Not just treat them.”

“It might even cure cancer,” Bryce concluded. “Of course if it got into the wrong hands, they could be reworked to actually kill someone.”

“So, that could also be a reason for it to be held back,” Murray countered.

“It could be,” Bryce admitted. “However, that same argument could be made for everything from immunotherapy medication to baby aspirin.”

“Thank you, Bryce,” Theora said, sensing it was time to end the call before Murray and Bryce started to escalate their debate.

Bryce nodded. “No problem.”

“I take it you want to cover the convention,” Murray said to Edison.

“I want to find out what’s going on with that woman,” Edison explained. “There’s something very strange about her.”

“Sounded like a typical religious zealot,” Murray said. “There are a couple dozen people like that in this city. Including your ex-girlfriend.”

“Let’s not bring Vanna into this,” Edison said, bitterly.

“She might bring herself into it,” Theora said. “Remember her obsession with immortality and resurrection? What if she were to get a hold of a batch of Synthestine?”

“You think she’d have it tweaked to continuously rebuild her parishioners’ bodies so they never died?” Murray asked, cringing at the idea.

“I wouldn’t put it past her,” Edison told them.


End file.
